Into The Stillness
We’ve just come to the end of our first retreat with Jenny Fagerstedt and what a beautiful experience it was. We were together and shared ourselves in a natural way. There was a general outline of a program and Jenny let the Spirit orchestrate the weekend. It all worked out perfectly and we sank into a graceful ease of being. Each and every one of us is simply touched by her pristine presence and grace.
The things we did
There were miracle moments to set the tone for the start of the day, meditations,and satsangs in which Jenny answered our questions and opened up deep subjects. We had eye-gazing sessions, which is always a deep and intense way to connect with our holy brothers, beautiful flowing music and singing. These are all the ingredients of our daily community life, except that we were joined by some new friends, and this brought a whole different flavor to the feeling in the house.
We also watched the movie ‘The Adjustment Bureau’, which was the perfect backdrop for entering a deeper awareness of the power of thought. This movie helps undo the belief that in order to fulfill our function we must sacrifice what our hearts really want. In our willingness to go for only love, all of the doubt thoughts disappear, and that’s what Jenny wants for us all: to go for only the Love of God!
Furthermore we had communal meals which typically begin with silence followed by an expression session, but during the retreat the silence was replaced by joining in a more social way. The break from the routine gave us all an out-of-the-box perspective and there were variations in how it was felt in that some were more comfortable with the contrast than others. The retreatants were curious to know more about our community life and how the mind training is applied. Jenny gently encouraged the long-term volunteers to openly share about their experiences. This created an intimate and revealing time together.
And how our hearts melt
“Wow, in 2 and a half days we did and experienced a lot!” Some other remarks:
Lori: “I want my love relationships to be more friendly and my friendships to be more loving.”
Oscar with his spot on comments, simply gasped at one point: “This is amazing!” Coralie sang ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ and it was clear that she allowed Spirit to use her voice. It was electric and so moving. Ludvig and Drew joined in leading the music session. Drew played the harmonium for the first time in his life and even sang out loud, which was a big step for him. Ludvig sang in an angelic way. Dan had a real mystical experience and cried his prayers happily out loud. And there was Sine and Petra who both expressed their raw emotions openly around some seemingly heavy relationship stuff, while Anje decided firmly to come out of her self-made box and to never return to that old state again.
Overall we can say that there is a feeling in the house of an ongoing joining in a more profound way, a steadfast growth of true intimacy, less holding back, expressing private thoughts without delay or false empathy. Thank you so much Li for your happy and humorous stewardship, even if the next one knocks on your door within a second. Thank you so much lovely Jenny for your gentle firmness and non compromising way of guiding us. It feels so good.
Spreaker talks
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